S7 overtakes Aeroflot in first quarter after riding domestic wave

S7 Airlines emerged as the largest passenger carrier in Russia over Q1, tipping Aeroflot off the top slot, according to the country’s official civil aviation figures. Federal air transport regulator Rosaviatsia states that S7 carried 3.56m passengers over the three-month period compared with Aeroflot’s 3.27m. S7 recorded only a 1.3% decline in passenger numbers for the quarter while Aeroflot’s more than halved. The carrier is attributing its relatively buoyant performance to the strength of its domestic network. “Inter-regional flights remained popular even during the most challenging months,” says S7 Group strategy director Grigory Davydov. S7 carried 32% more passengers in March 2021 than March 2020 while its domestic passenger level for the month increased by nearly 50%. The airline says it benefited from winter vacation traffic during the month. Russian domestic operations have recovered strongly from the pandemic crisis and over the summer season S7 intends to operate services to 130 destinations.<br/>